Labor force

Between 1980 and 2000 Waite Park's labor force
participation rate was slightly below Minneapolis', but it followed the same upward trend. In 2000, 69 percent of Waite Park's population over the age of 16 was in the
labor force (had a job or was looking for work). In Minneapolis 72 percent of residents over the age of 16 participated in the labor force. In 1980 the rate was 64 percent for the neighborhood and 66 percent for the city.

Waite Park has had a lower
unemployment rate than Minneapolis. Between 1990 and 2000 the unemployment rate fell faster in the neighborhood than citywide. In 2000, Waite Park's unemployment rate was roughly 3 percent, compared to Minneapolis' unemployment rate of nearly 6 percent.